Adebayo Adenrele
The Special Adviser to the Ekiti State governor on Housing and Mortgage Development, Dr Gboyega Oloniyo has hailed Senate Leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele for naming one of his constituency projects after his late father, Bishop Gabriel Oloniyo.
Speaking with journalists, Dr Oloniyo said he was shocked by the pronouncement, adding that he didn’t expect such gesture from Senator Opeyemi even though he perceived his late father as a global icon.
He said, “I felt so honoured, I felt so elated, I felt so concerned that the distinguished Senator, the Leader of the Senate could think along that line. We have actually come a long way together. We were both students under the late Bishop Gabriel Babalola Oloniyo that happens to be my biological father who is also his own father and a mentor.
“I realized that it’s good to do good. When none of us knew what anybody could ever become in life, that you don’t look down on anybody. I appreciate that gesture and most profoundly from the distinguished Senator that deemed it fit despite the fact that the departed primate didn’t emanate from his own Senatorial District.
“Though, he thought of it that he’s more of a global icon that could be named for any good deed done to anybody anywhere in the entire state even in the federation.
“So I thank God for his life. I appreciate him. It was a bit emotional. In the presence of Mr Governor, himself and I, we witnessed that pronouncement. I give God the glory for that. Even the Governor promised to put a police post there and do a lot of things to make sure the library stands because if a teacher that impacted into your life as a mentor could be remembered like that, he must have done something extra ordinary because we all have past teachers, we all have past lecturers. I thank God for the life of the departed primate for doing the right thing at the right time.
“He never spare the rod, I am a living testimony. At times we take our canes in turns. So I think the product of it is that all is well that ends well. And today, we can look back and say yes, we passed through the right tutelage. I give God the glory and I thank the distinguished Senator.”